State employees must pursue timely claims, or face dismissal due to delay and laches, as the judiciary will not entertain stale claims.

JUDGMENT :

Tarlok Singh Chauhan, J.

Since common questions of law and fact are involved in all these matters, therefore, they were taken up for hearing together and are being disposed of by common judgment.

LPA Nos. 311, 356 and 472/2024

2. We really wonder why the State has filed these appeals and further how the same are maintainable.

3. The parties shall be referred to as they were before the learned writ Court.

4. It is not in dispute that the petitioners superannuated from the posts of Assistant Librarian in the Department of Education (Himachal Pradesh). The petitioners were granted UGC scales. Since the petitioners had become eligible for selection grade, the pay scale of Rs.37400 - Rs.67000 +AGP Rs.9000/- was payable to them. The petitioners were granted the above mentioned pay scale vide order dated 27.06.2017, however, later on, vide order dated 19.06.2018, orders were issued reducing the pay scale of Rs.37400- Rs.67000 + AGP Rs.8000/- w.e.f. 01.01.2006. However, these orders were not implemented until 22.10.2021 when the directions came to be issued to the concerned D.D.O.(s) to implement the order dated 19.06.2018.

5. The petitioners approached the learned Writ Court assailing the orders dated 19.06.2018 and 22.10.2021 on the ground that the petitioners vide judgment passed by learned Division Bench of this Court in LPA No.146 of 2009 and connected matters on 23.12.2015 had been held to be entitled to UGC Scales at par with all other similarly situated persons.

6. In support of the case, the petitioners had placed reliance upon notification issued by the Higher Education Department on 15.10.2009. As per Clause 5(c)(vi) of said notification, the Deputy Librarian/ Assistant Librarian (Selection Grade)/ College Librarian (Selection Grade) after having completed three years in the pre-revised scale of Rs.12000- Rs.18300/- on 01.01.2006 would be fixed at an appropriate stage in the pay band of Rs.37400- Rs.67000 with an AGP of Rs.9000/-.

7. It was on the strength of the aforesaid notification that the petitioners assailed the reduction of AGP from Rs.9000/- to Rs.8000/- per month.

8. The respondent-State contested the claim of the petitioners on the ground that category/cadre of Assistant Librarian was non-teaching one and as per Recruitment and Promotion Rules, the pay scale of cadre/ category of Assistant Librarian is Rs.5910- Rs.20200 Rs.2400 Grade Pay. The pay scale of Rs.15600- Rs.39100 + Rs.6000 Grade Pay is admissible to them and pay scale of Rs.37400- Rs.67000+ Rs.9000 Grade Pay is admissible/applicable only to those Librarians (College Cadre) who were initially appointed/promoted as Librarian (College Cadre) in the pay scale of Rs.15600- Rs.39100 + Rs.6000 Grade Pay.

9. It was not in dispute before the learned writ Court that the petitioners were parties in LPA No.146 of 2009, titled as State of H.P. and another versus V.D. Saraswati and others decided on 23.12.2015, wherein it had been held that all the Assistant Librarians constitute one homogeneous class. The judgment proceeded on the terms that the State had denied the benefits of UGC scale to the entire class of Assistant Librarians and, therefore, they were entitled to the UGC scales.

10. Once that be so, obviously the writ petitioners were entitled to all the benefits as flowed from the judgment in LPA No.146 of 2009.

11. Accordingly, once the petitioners being Assistant Librarian were allowed the benefits of UGC scales, the respondents could not have denied the same especially in view of clause 5(c)(vi) of notification dated 15.10.2009 (supra) and that too, when it was not the case of the respondents that the petitioners had not completed